Share this image

Lonesome George, iconic Galapagos tortoise, dies

View Gallery

Lonesome George, the last remaining tortoise of his kind and a conservation icon, died Sunday of unknown causes. He lived at the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. He is estimated to be about 100 years old. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Lonesome George was excited to get his greens, in February 2009, which a handler brought twice a week to mimic the wild. Lonesome George was a Pinta giant tortoise. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Lonesome George attempted to mate with a female in February 2009. Two females of slightly different species lived in his enclosure. The hope was that he would successfully breed with them, but the eggs were never fertile. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

The body of the famed giant tortoise is removed on stretcher from his corral in the Galapagos Islands. Galapagos National Park Direction/AP

A Galapagos giant tortoise at the Charles Darwin Research Station eats her greens in February 2009. These captive tortoises are part of a breeding program that has already released hundreds of juveniles in their native islands. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Two tortoises fight over a prickly pear snack by hissing at each other at the Charles Darwin Reseach Station in July 1991. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Giant tortoises at the Charles Darwin Research Station get hundreds of visitors every day from all over the world. Full-grown adults can weigh more than 600 pounds and measure four feet long. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Galapagos giant tortoises in a breeding program eat their greens in February 2009. These animals are found only on the Galapagos Islands. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A close up photo shows the back foot of a Galapagos giant tortoise. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Diego, the Cassanova of Galapagos giant tortoises, has fathered more than 2000 babies. He was brought back to the islands from the San Diego Zoo. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A Galapagos giant tortoise at the Charles Darwin Research Station is marked with a number on its shell. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A Galapagos giant tortoise has the wrinkled, wizened face of an old man. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Meeting the giant tortoise Lonesome George on the Galapagos Islands ranks as one of Melanie Stetson Freeman's top experiences as a longtime staff photographer for the Christian Science Monitor. “It's so cool to see the last of something,” she says. “It is so sad that he is gone.”